A group of runners ran along the river Avon to St John's Court to paint some outdoor furniture. We painted 10 chairs, a bench, a table and also varnished a bench ... all in one evening! It was a lovely sunny evening and we enjoyed being outside helping our community.

After meeting at our usual spot outside the leisure centre we were on our way. This is one of our shortest runs at just over 1km away, so we got there with lots of time for volunteering.

The task

We met our hosts for the evening and they gave us an overview of the building complex and the task. St John's Court is a shared living space in the centre of Bath. There are lots of different groups of people who live there, including vulnerable adults and people who have mobility challenges.

The Committee and the Resident's Association make a great effort to build and maintain a community and one of the ways they do this is by maintaining a welcoming outdoor space for all to enjoy.

There are several areas where residents and their guests can sit outside and enjoy being together, and these spaces need regular maintenance. We came last year to paint some furniture that lives outside on their decking, and we were back again for more painting!

Last night, we moved furniture from storage cupboards to the back of the complex overlooking the riverside. The team had already kindly jet-washed the furniture for us and we were ready to get going!

We got off to a rough start ... I should sand down from my position, as these puns are awful!!

The first step was to sand down some of the rough edges of the wood. This roughness can come from where things like moss has grown on the surface over the years.

Don't paint on my parade!

After the sanding we mixed some paint and let our artistic talents shine!

We wern-table to leave without finishing!

We worked in teams to make sure we covered as much of the surface of the chairs as possible. The chairs were painted a smooth cream colour and the table was painted in a calming eggshell blue. The colour we added makes the furniture look so much fresher and really brightens up the garden area. Also, the paint will help to weather-proof the wood which is important as it exposed to the elements by the river path.

I should also benchun how much fun we had!

A group of our runners used their skills to varnish a bench. The bench needed freshening up and our work here makes the bench look as good as new. This will help keep the bench protected and help extend its lifetime.

We finished the task paint-splattered and worn out from all the kneeling and bending but we were really proud with our work. Our hosts were extremely happy with what we had achieved in just over an hour and were extremely grateful. We are heading back to St John's Court to do some more painting later in the summer so sign up now to reserve the spot in you diary!

Thanks!

Thanks to Emma for backmakring for us and for also the pun last night!

Upcoming runs:

• On Sunday 26th May we are volunteering with The National Trust to help on the Bath Skyline Walk
• At the end of May we are heading to St James Wine Vaults for the monthly quiz
• On 1st June we are helping out at Dry Arch Growers
• In June we are also helping at the Saltford Festival
• Next week: we are cleaning tennis courts at Alice Park

A massive group of 21 runners ran along the canal path to Cleveland Pools. We did lots of jobs to help keep the grounds clean and safe. It was really exciting to contribute towards a historic and important part of Bath! We ran 3km in total.

Welcome Anni!

We met outside the leisure centre and I gave the introduction talk. We welcomed Anni to her first GoodGym run. It was great to have you come and join us, we hope you come back again!

After a quick warm-up we were on our way. We took the scenic route and enjoyed the peace and tranquility of the canal path. I encouraged the runners to do some exercises by the side of the canal and we formed a conga line of walking lunges!

You don't pool me!

Our host, Sally, met us at the pools. The building and swimming areas at Cleveland pools date back to the Georgian period. In fact, it is the last surviving lido (outdoor swimming pool) that still exists in the UK. It fell into disrepair and hasn't been used since the 1980's. We have been to help maintain the grounds of the pool before, but since we last visited the team there have worked tirelessly to secured a game-changing amount of National Lottery funding. Hopefully with a further bit of fundraising the team can look to get regeneration work started and open up to the public again in the next few years.

Sally had lots of work for us to do and we split into teams.

Pool me once, shame on you. Pool me twice, shame on me!

A group of us donned our gardening gloves and tidied the grassy banks around the pool. We removed lots of sticky weeds, ivy and general weeds from the grounds and disposed of them. This is to stop them taking over the whole area!

We have hidden depths

A duo of runners worked together to 'fish' various weeds and plants out of the pool. They filled two wheelbarrows full of their treasure! Great work! Luckily we had Mark, our trained lifeguard, keeping an eye on things on this task! Thanks, Mark!

Another team were trusted with hand-held scythes and saws to cut down some aggressive stinging nettles that were taking over a patch of land. Their removal will make it easier for builders to eventually get work started.

Better great than never ... April pools!

A few of our number picked sycamore seedlings from the ground surrounding the buildings. If left, these seedlings will grow into fully-fledged trees which can disrupt the foundations of the buildings. It was an important job to nip in the bud!

Some of the runners worked together to clear other weeds and old tree roots that surrounded the old changing rooms. These pesky roots were starting to disrupt the brickwork and removing them means more of the buildings can be salvaged.

An old bra came to support us!

The rest of the runners were hunting in the disturbed ground near the entrance to the pools. They were acting like Indiana Jones and searching for any ceramic pieces of pottery that has been swallowed by the mud over the many years that the pool was used. We filled several tubs and the plan is for them to be made into a large mosaic by schoolchildren. Some of the odder things we found were half of a Lego character, a small rubber monkey and a very old and very disgusting bra!

Overall, it was great to spend the evening outside in the fresh air and make a valuable contribution to an important piece of our heritage in our wonderful city. Sally was really pleased with how much work we got done and we were really proud of our efforts.

Thanks!

Thanks Steph for backmarking for us and thanks to Sally for hosting us. Thanks for the pun this week, Catrin, and thanks to everyone for all the other puns included in the report!

Upcoming runs

• We have a great Community Mission on Sat 27th April at The Orchard
• We are also doing a really fun Community Mission on Sun 28th April as part of the 2019 Worldwide City Nature Challenge
• Next week: we are gardening at Donkey Lane
• In June there is an exciting race in Cheddar Gorge that some of GG Bath have already signed up for
• In June we are also helping at the Saltford Festival